You Grew On Me
by x-menobsessed26
Summary: Jean thinks her love life is finished. Bobby is ready to live. When their present lives collide, will their futures follow? Rated M for future chapters and language. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Jean POV**

My world turned upside down the day my best friend decided to confide in me once more.

I hadn't been expecting anything near what she told me, but I suppose that's partly my fault. I had been blind to the obvious, which is sort of normal for me, or at least it had been since Charles blocked off most of my telepathy. I always felt guilty if I knew what someone was feeling or what they wanted, even if it came from common sense and not my powers.

However, it would certainly have helped my heartbreak had I paid attention, but I didn't. Too bad, so sad. I learned my lesson and, I have to say, I more than like the outcome.

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**Third POV**

Jean was grading some papers on her sophomore Biology class' genetics homework when she heard a knock at her classroom door just before it opened. Ororo poked her head in with a nervous smile, "May I come in?"

Jean smiled back with a puzzled expression, "You know you can."

Ororo stepped in and shut the door behind her, shuffling her feet, "Can I...talk to you about something? I warn you, it will not be pleasant and I hope you will not hate me."

Jean put down her pen and moved her hand to telekinetically move a chair over from the wall, which would be much more comfortable to sit in than one of the desks. Ororo thanked her and took a seat.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Scott."

Jean wrung her hands, not sure where the conversation was headed, "Okay, what about him?"

"I...have no idea how to start this," she laughed nervously, running her hand through her white hair. "I feel like a freshman again."

"Just say what you want, 'Ro. You're my best friend. I practically can't hate you," Jean winked, hoping to ease the tension threatening to break the other woman.

Ororo took a deep breath and slowly straightened her back to steel herself, looked her long time friend dead in the eyes and said, "I'm in love with Scott."

There was a long minute of nothing but silence before Jean shook her head slightly, smiled slightly with confusion and asked, "What?"

Ororo groaned with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry, Jean. I've felt this way since before you and he started dating, but I didn't want to say anything. I thought it would subside, but it hasn't. It's the opposite and I just...damn it! If I could help this, I would, but I CAN'T!"

To say Jean was in shock would be stupid. She was so shocked she couldn't think or feel, which later she realized she would have prefered, "You're in love with my boyfriend?"

Ororo began crying in earnest, a sight which Jean had seen before being as close as she was to the older woman, but one she never quite got used to. Ororo was a strong, independent woman, one who hardly ever showed weakness and vulnerability, much, Jean realized with a start, like her boyfriend.

Jean stood up on shaking legs and walked around to her friend and held her while she cried. Ororo had just turned thirty the week before, probably spurring her to think about her life and what she wanted from it. Jean herself was only twenty-seven and still very young, even to be the doctor she was. That was a longer story, however, and one she didn't exactly enjoy thinking about.

Scott had was going to turn thirty in another six months, and he had been talking about families and marriage for quite some time. Jean wasn't ready. She acknowledged that it was her fault, her being unready to settle down and that deep down, she may not have actually wanted to be with Scott anymore. Over the course of the last year, they had fallen nearly completely apart, staying together only by sheer threads.

Jean took her calming friend's face in her hands and smiled weakly at her, "Go talk to Scott. I appreciate you coming to me about this, but it's him you need to talk to. Once you two come to a decision, have him come and talk to me, understand?"

Ororo wiped her eyes, "I really am sorry, Jean."

"I know, Ororo, but I'm not angry, I promise. Just...talk to him."

She watched as her friend, her frequent confidante, got up and walked out of the classroom to discuss a relationship with her boyfriend. Jean wasn't a stupid woman by any stretch of the imagination. She knew what was coming, what was going to happen.

Because of it, she kneeled on the floor and cried, loud and long, for the loss of something she'd thought she'd had. Scott would always be precious to her, but as the best friend he'd started out as in her life, not a lover, and she knew she would never be able to hold it against her friend. Scott was an amazing man and the connection they had was deep. Jean had known it for years.

As she sobbed, she was thankful that all of her classes for the day were over and that she had no necessary engagements for the evening. However, she was completely unaware of the student standing outside listening to the crying for a good five minutes before leaving, forgetting completely about the advice he'd come to ask about.

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**As per usual, I'm not sure which awkward, messed up part of my brain this crawled out of, but it also craves reviews. Please feed it so it doesn't take over. ;)**

**I will update for the next two Fridays and will then move on to other stories for a bit. For more information, visit my Facebook page (link on profile).**


	2. Chapter 2

After hours of crying, Jean decided to skip dinner. She had lost her appetite and to be perfectly honest, she feared seeing Scott and Ororo, so she just went straight up to the room she had shared with Scott for the past two years.

However, when she got there, she had no idea what to do. She knew her relationship was over, but did she move out or did Scott? Was this going to be resolved tonight? Did she even want to be here?

She didn't get a chance to think any further because the door opened. Slowly, almost like a movie, Scott walked in. Though to most people his expressions were hard to determine due to his glasses, to his friends they never were. He looked guilty, for whatever reason.

Her brown eyes filled with tears and she looked away fast, lest he see her. She heard his footsteps come closer and felt him sit on the edge of the bed with her. Scott pulled her close to him and she broke again, crying into his chest.

Softly, he whispered into her hair, "I'm sorry, Jean."

She just shook her head, hoping that would suffice as a 'no' until she could speak again, and continued to crying into his chest. Whatever inability they had found to work together as lovers, they had always been close friends and she took extreme comfort in his arms.

When Jean's cries softened again, she looked up at him and smiled like she would to a small child while grieving at a funeral, "I don't blame you, Slim."

He choked on a laugh, presumably on his own small set of tears, "Isn't this the part where you scream and hit me and stuff?"

"Only in your dreams."

He kissed her forehead, "I still love you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah. Just not..."

"Yeah."

Jean took a deep breath, not unlike that of her friend earlier, and sat up. She cupped his strong face in her hands and kissed him one last time, a tender goodbye. She then stood up and began to leave.

"Jean!" he called out. "You don't have to leave. I'm going to sleep somewhere else tonight and move my things out tomorrow and-"

Jean shook her head and held up her hand, "Stop. I-I have to do this. I'm not just leaving this room, Scotty. I'm leaving the Institute."

His eyes widened, only visible because of his eyebrows, "What? No, Charles will-"

"go through the list of other teachers who have been wishing to apply here. This school year only has a week left and that is all exams. It will take me at least twice that long to gather everything and find a place to stay outside of campus."

"What are you talking about? I mean, if you want to live out of the mansion, great. Charles can have one of the cabins on the grounds furnished, I'm sure. You're like a daughter to him," Scott said, standing now, sounding desperate.

She smiled at him, genuine now, "This isn't your fault. This has been long in coming. I don't belong here anymore, at least, not right now."

"When do you think you'll come back?"

"Not for a while. Not for a few years at least."

Scott ran a hand through his hair, "Jean, if this is-"

"I just told you it's not about you. If anything, you and Ororo helped free me from my last bind here for the time being. I was only here because of you. I mean, I love the students and the X-men and everything, but I would much rather just...be a doctor."

He looked at her for a long moment, studying her like he had a million times before. Finally, Scott nodded, "You promise you'll be here for a while, though, right?"

Jean nodded and then laughed, "I doubt anyone would let me run away before them."

"You've got that right, Red, but will you at least stay here?"

She shook her head, "I've got exam tables to sleep on downstairs. I might actually be more comfortable there for once. Besides, I've got that small futon mattress hiding in the closet down there."

Another knock on the door came. Jean opened it and faced Ororo, who looked a little startled to see her. A flash of anger sped through her body at the thought of her being startled at Jean being in her own room, but instead she smiled at the weather witch, "He's all yours."

It was sad to say, but even though her heart was broken and she felt like giving up on life, a small part of her felt extraordinarily liberated. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last long.

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	3. Chapter 3

"So what do you think?"

Bobby's head snapped up to meet Marie's gaze, "About what?"

She rolled her eyes as Jubilee groaned from across the room. Bobby formed a snowball in his cupped hand and threw at her as she laughed. Marie grabbed his chin and pulled his face back toward hers, "I was wondering if you would consider staying here this summer since classes are over, instead of going back for summer classes. I mean, you're only one year into college. Do you need to be so dedicated?"

Bobby sighed, "I just need something to do."

"What about keeping your girlfriend happy?"

He looked away from the young woman, "I'm not so sure I'm happy with a girlfriend anymore."

Dead silence followed his statement like an unfortunately loyal puppy. Bobby looked around the room and nearly laughed at the gaping fish look on Jubilee's face other than the fact that it was copied by Kitty, Peter, Artie, and Theresa. He didn't dare look at Marie.

"What. Did. You. Say?"

He cringed, "I don't think we should be together anymore."

Another moment of silence followed before she roughly turned him around to face her, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

The tears in her delicate brown eyes tore at his heart, but ignored it for the moment, grabbed her hands, and pulled her out of the room and out of the mansion where he could talk to her in private.

When they were out of the view of their friends and away from the curious ears of eavesdroppers, he dropped her hands and began to walk away.

Marie stormed after his walking form, "Talk to me, damn it!"

"I know, Marie."

"Know that you should talk to me?" she snorted.

Bobby was embarrassed and all too ashamed to admit that he actually thought about slapping her, but his nerves were worn thin as thread and about to snap, "I know that you don't love me, that you love someone else. I know about your crush on Logan. I guess...I've always known."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't love you anymore, Marie. I know you don't love me either. We're done. Hell, I don't know if we ever got started."

"So, we're done?" Marie said, slowly getting it.

"Yes, Marie."

Marie took a deep breath, looked at Bobby like she wanted to say something, and ran away, leaving him behind in the dust. Bobby ran a hand through his brown hair. It was going to be a long drive back to Saint Rose.

He wished there was somewhere else that could act as a halfway house between Saint Rose and Xavier's. He didn't mind the long drive, not at all, but a two and a half hour drive to come and visit Xavier's was ridiculous. If he could find somewhere to live where he would only have about an hour either way, that would be fantastic.

However, finding a place like that for students for the summer would be nearly impossible to find and even harder to secure a deal for, since his parents always had to approve every little thing he ever did.

He walked back inside and was promptly punched in the face by Logan.

His nose broke and blood began to stream from his nose before he even touched the ground. He heard the signature _snikt_ of the Wolverine's claws and feared for his life.

"Give me one good reason, and it had better be good, as to why I shouldn't slit your throat," he growled as he pointed his claws at Bobby's head.

Bobby glared, clutching his nose, "Because it's not my fault she can't decide who she wants to be with compared to who she wants to love. She loves you, not me."

Bobby could see the falter in his eyes, but Logan only snarled, "Says who?"

"Ask any of her roommates, bub. They'll be glad to give you the juicy details," Bobby said, walking away from the gruff man.

Logan let him go, knowing the popsicle was right. He didn't like Marie being hurt, but she would only be hurt for a little bit. He also knew that Bobby wasn't the kind of boy, man really, to go back to a girl without a damn good reason, which he obviously didn't see. Bobby wasn't playing a game, he was trying to avoid one.

Bobby groaned as the pain in his nose was suddenly felt, being numb with adrenaline and fear before. Jubilee came out of a doorway and nearly fell into him.

"Sorry, Bobby. I-Holy sweet mother of X! What happened to your nose?"

"The Wolverine happened."

Jubilee smirked, "Dr. Grey is downstairs in the lab."

"Thanks."

"Oh! Bobby!"

Bobby turned around, giving her an exasperated look. Jubilee took no bother, "Just a warning. I think...I think Dr. Grey and Mr. Summers may have broken up."

His nose was forgotten for the moment, "What? They're...a staple here!"

"I know! From what us rumor mongrels can gather is they just broke up, and I mean just, and somehow Miss Munroe was involved."

"What the hell?!" Bobby exclaimed, wincing as his nose hurt.

"Exactly! We'll all let you all know the details when they come in," Jubilee winked.

Bobby waved his hand, "Don't bother. As much as I love good gossip as much as the next person, I don't need to know about our teachers. Well, ex-teachers."

"I guess you could say ex-X-teachers."

Bobby laughed, "Goodbye Jubilee."

"Is Marie going to be bawling all night?"

"Probably."

She called after him, "Thanks a lot Robert Drake!"

"You're very welcome."

He chuckled as he walked down the staircase, he prefered stairs as one of his more athletic quirks, and to the subbasement most students only saw when injured, as Bobby now was. However, Bobby also saw it when working as a part-time X-man. It made him a bit giddy every time he thought of it.

He pressed the button to open the doors to the impressive infirmary and stopped short when he saw Dr. Grey; strong, independent, sometimes cold Dr. Grey; crying her eyes out at her desk.

Bobby was beginning to strongly hate Murphy's law.

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